Fox Cities News

Molly Yatso Butz, an Oshkosh resident and head of the Day By Day Shelter, has been named a recipient of the University of Wisconsin–Oshkosh’s 2025 Distinguished Alumni Award. Yatso Butz, who graduated from UWO in 1999 with a degree in exercise science and fitness management and a minor in journalism, is recognized for her extensive work in public service and community health.

Yatso Butz led efforts to raise $5.5 million to build the new Day By Day Shelter, Wisconsin’s first purpose-built shelter. The facility now offers 50 beds year-round and provides food, shelter, and support services to hundreds of people each year. She described the journey: “We did it,” she said of the day the shelter opened in May 2023. “We had to fight pretty hard, but I knew it was the right thing to do. I love Oshkosh too much to ever do something that wasn’t going to benefit the community.”

She was hired by Day By Day Shelter in June 2020 with a goal to expand its capacity from a seasonal operation with 25 beds to a permanent facility open all year. The capital campaign began in August 2021; construction started in June 2022; doors opened in May 2023; and according to Yatso Butz, “the final loan was paid off by February 2024.” She continues leading operations at the shelter despite ongoing challenges: “Keeping the building open, keeping staff, operating 365 days a year, that’s been the hardest part,” Yatso Butz said, “but we keep going because our community needs us to.”

In addition to managing fundraising and daily operations at Day By Day Shelter, Yatso Butz oversees communications including grant writing and donor appeals. She credits her background at UW-Oshkosh for these skills: “Journalism is storytelling, and that’s what I do every day,” she said.

Her leadership style has helped foster connections between guests at the shelter and essential resources such as healthcare access and job training programs. UWO Professor Emerita Joann Noe Cross noted her impact: “Molly was hired specifically for her fund-raising abilities,” Cross said. “What the organization got was so much more. From the beginning Molly had passion and vision. She was an advocate for those others ignored.”

Before joining Day By Day Shelter, Yatso Butz served as Community Health and Wellness Director at Oshkosh YMCA where she managed wellness initiatives for older adults and chronic disease prevention programs while also writing a weekly column for local media outlets.

She also worked as Foundation Development Coordinator at Aurora Health Care where she raised over $750,000 toward philanthropic goals.

From 2012 through 2021 she directed Festival Foods Turkey Trot events across Wisconsin—helping raise more than $3.6 million for Boys & Girls Clubs and YMCA programs through Festival Foods’ charitable foundation—and expanded participation rates significantly during her time as program coordinator with Oshkosh Senior Services.

Michael Patton from UWO’s school of business praised her contributions: “Molly’s unwavering compassion, drive and community leadership have not only transformed organizations but have sparked change throughout our community,” Patton said. “Her remarkable achievements embody the values of excellence, service and social responsibility that make her a distinguished UW-Oshkosh alumna.”

The university will honor eleven alumni during Homecoming weekend this October—including five recipients of Distinguished Alumni Awards like Yatso Butz—for professional accomplishments; five Outstanding Young Alumni Award honorees; plus one Alumni Outstanding Service Award winner.

The celebration takes place Friday Oct. 17 at Culver Family Welcome Center on campus with tickets available via UWO Alumni Relations or by phone (920) 424-3449.

Further event details can be found on UW–Oshkosh Homecoming information pages online.

More about this year's awardees is available on Eleven UWO alumni to be honored at Alumni Awards Celebration Homecoming weekend.